


Commencement

by lesbianbey



Category: Lab Rats (TV 2012)
Genre: Bisexual Male Character, Gen, Graduation, Moving On, Prom, Speeches, also i wrote this before the daniel episode aired i'm sorry, honestly this fic is kinda funny, read only if u want not bc i'm forcing u to, y'all already know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-01
Updated: 2016-07-01
Packaged: 2018-07-19 13:00:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7362388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianbey/pseuds/lesbianbey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'm gonna miss you guys so much." / or, the one where the bionic students get ready for a future out of the island, Chase wants to be a valedictorian, Bree goes stag to her first prom, Perry is being sentimental without sniffing bath salts and Leo gets ready for college.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Commencement

**Author's Note:**

> imported from ffnet  
> rockybluewigs (ffnet) bisexual-leo-dooley (tumblr)

It was time for most of the students to move up a color in the bionic island. After another year of brutal training and weird mishaps (and another bionic limb), the mentors thought an authentic graduation is better than just handing out shirts for those going from green to red, or from red to wherever they decide to go (which were two choices: be fostered to a family or to live on their own for those over 16 years old. The government thought those choices were better since they were still humans, but still have a responsibility to save the world).

That also means that one student was going to graduate. That means maybe he could be a mentor now that he will not be a student anymore. However, that isn't the case.

"Does that mean I become a mentor?" Eighteen year old Leo asks his stepfather, who looks at him with disbelief.

"No, that means you're going to college like the rest of your old students from school," his mother Tasha replies, with a stern look towards her bionic son. Despite not being ok with her son being 75% bionic, she still feels proud of the boy who grew up from being scared of the dark at ten years old to an eighteen year old superhero. "Remember? You applied several months ago and you got accepted to the University of Mission Creek."

"But that's no fun!" Leo frowns. As much as he wants to go to college, being a mentor sounds better than studying S.T.E.M. with a bunch of cool nerds like himself. "I wanna be a mentor!"

Tasha raises an eyebrow. "You dropped out of high school to come here and now you wanna be a mentor. You're lucky I didn't _completely_ pull you out of here."

Leo sighs, and casts his head down. He couldn't argue with his mother on that topic...or at all. "I guess, but I bet you everyone will miss me here!"

"No, we won't," Spin laughs, and exits the room.

Leo rolls his eyes and slowly leaves the room. Although he's excited about the graduation, he still cannot shake that he can't be a mentor to the students. He knows everything already and participated in countless missions, and that was before he became bionic. What is so wrong about being a mentor that no one will allow him to get that opportunity?

"I still can't believe I won't be valedictorian!" He hears his older stepbrother complain about the valedictory speech. It hasn't been decided yet, but of course the supergenius feels inadequate that he can't make a bigger narcissist out of himself. Not wanting to listen to Chase complain about a decision that hasn't been made yet, the eighteen year old leaves the room through the other side.

"You're a mentor, not a student!" Bree remarks, with an eye roll. "Students give the valedictory address, not mentors with their own noses so far up their—"

"I always get sidetracked by something else, but that doesn't mean I'm not capable of juggling two projects," he pouts and folds his arms across his chest. "First, it was the space elevator, then it was the advanced cell phone, and then the other inventions I started but people continually take from me and now this. I can deliver an awesome speech!"

"Blah blah blah, _let it go_!" The twenty year old middle child sing songs, with an annoyed grunt. "Who cares? You have super intelligence, a commando app, and other abilities I can't keep count of because you're just Douglas' favorite. What more do you want: a crown? A mural? A parade?"

"I've never been valedictorian," he frowns.

"Ok, so? It's just a ceremony, not the last day on earth. We are mentors, who are technically teachers. I don't know anyone who is a teacher and a valedictorian at the same time—"

"Guys! Look what I found!" Twenty one year old Adam walks in and shows his younger siblings something that washed ashore. "I don't know what it is, but it looks awesome!"

"Oh no!" Bree takes the questionable item, super speeds to the beach, and throws it back into the ocean. "I don't care what it is, we are not dealing with that again."

"It was a space rock," Chase states, with a smirk of his own.

"Oh...it wasn't that impressive anyway," Bree laughs nervously. "Anyway, calm down. I'm sure that the person who ends up delivering the speech will make it short and sweet and not _bore_ people to death."

Chase sneers, "Whatever, but I still think this is unfair."

"Have you realized that the more that comes out of your mouth, the less anyone finds it interesting to talk to you?" Adam points out, which earns a giggle from his sister.

The genius stares at his brother, wondering seriously how he's biologicallyrelated to a man child. "At least I can talk and keep all of the saliva in my mouth."

* * *

 

"Why do we have to go from green to red? That's not fair!" Spin rants to his friend Bob. "I mean, Leo gets to go from yellow to red last year and I'm still wearing colors. What's so special about him?"

"A bionic arm, two bionic legs, elemental manipulation—"

"Not helping!" The fourteen year old snaps. He sits down on the lounge chair with his extra green shirt in hand. "I thought I would have better bionic abilities or something to make me graduate but no. Apparently my ability isn't good enough."

"At least you don't have to go through an extra training course with _Perry_ ," Bob shivers, remembering last year when he almost couldn't graduate because he was a softie. "It's cool that we get an extra year of training. Plus, I did hear from Bree that the Reds get to go on simulator missions like what they used to do before they were famous."

"That's not the same," Spin rolls his eyes. "I want to go on a real mission again."

"Yeah, cause the one that failed miserably because we were caught in quicksand wasn't enough," Bob remarks. "We also were trapped inside an arcade and didn't know how to get out of it because we weren't very advanced in combat training. We're not ready for a real mission. I know I'm not."

"I am," he gets up and stands triumphantly. Whether it will happen this year or next year, he will show the mentors (and especially that smug snake Leo) that he is ready for a real mission. "One day I _will_ be ready for a mission. Maybe not today, but one day I will prove that I am superior."

"Yeah but until then, I can enjoy a grape jelly and tuna sandwich," Bob grins, and grabs the plate with the sandwich. "Can you pass me the jelly?"

Spin furrows his eyebrows and looks at his friend in disgust, but doesn't argue when he gives Bob the jar of grape jelly. He will never understand Bob, but he's the closest friend he's had since the academy opened. "What makes you enjoy these?"

"I don't know, they just coincide and have a sweet yet conflicting flavor in my mouth," Bob explains, with food in his mouth. "You should try it some time."

"No thanks," Spin grimaces, and tries not to look at his friend eating. That was just disgusting.

* * *

 

"You _what_?" The youngest lab rat yells at his father angrily.

"This isn't up for discussion, Chase," Mr. Davenport replies, while walking over to the hydro-loop. He has an important meeting with his co-workers at Davenport Industries and he would much rather not flesh this out with his super genius son. "Leo's the valedictorian.. If Sebastian was still on our side, he would've been doing it but he's not so I'm giving it to Leo. End of story."

"But why?"

"He's the most improved student in the academy, he has the highest grades, and again, he's a _student_ ," Mr. Davenport explains with emphasis. "You have super smarts and you have the one job Leo wanted for years, yet you still complain. Now, can you move? I have an important meeting."

"Why can't I do this? I'm better at speeches!" He argues.

The creator sighs. He isn't very used to his son's superiority complex that he starts to develop more as they live on the island, so he doesn't like it at all. It is kind of hypocritical because, hello, if you looked up superiority complex in the dictionary you would find his picture, but still. "Why can't you just be proud of your brother? He's proven himself so many times in this academy and he looks up to you so much. He still does. What would you try to prove if I gave you the opportunity, that you're better than everyone else at everything?" When he doesn't hear his son reply, he finally sidesteps Chase and enters the hydro-loop. "I'll be back in...probably the next day."

The doors close and it speeds off into the mainland, leaving a somewhat distraught Chase looking at the hydro-loop. Even though he has all of those abilities, he always still feels inferior, _especially_ towards his older siblings, who clearly have better abilities. He just couldn't shake the jealousy and hurt over being stumped for something so honorary to be passed on to someone else. Yeah, Leo's brilliant, crafty, clever, and quick witted, as well as sarcastic. However the eighteen year old is barely an asset. He simply didn't fit the characteristic to be a valedictorian.

However the more Chase thinks about it, the more he feels bad about thinking of sabotaging Leo's chance to be the scholar he used to be when he was in school. It seems incongruous that he's comparing himself to Leo, who's been by his side for over five years. Leo's the only person who could stand to be by his side and understands him in a way that others don't. When his older siblings tease him about his height or his hair or his sexuality, Leo simply wouldn't care about it and would back him up instantly. Ok, maybe he was in on some jokes, but that doesn't mean Leo's entirely bad or anything. In fact, he's the _only_ sibling that Chase truly respects.

The super genius sighs and goes to the mentor headquarters, where he knows his younger brother is there probably revelling in the fact that he's going to give a speech for the ceremony in a few days. What he finds is his sister trying on different dresses for the last minute prom, as well as an unamused Leo in the corner with a red dress on his head. "What's going on here?"

"Dress fitting," he deadpans. "Seriously woman, do you have to try on every dress available?"

"Yes! This is the one chance I have to experience a real prom! Since I didn't get to go to my prom because we were touring worldwide with Agent Graham, I'm gonna live it up, so shut up and deal with it."

Chase rolls his eyes amusedly and looks at his sister. "You do realize you're probably going alone, right?" Chase snorts, and the twenty year old girl glares at her younger brother.

"So are _you_ ," Bree fires back and enters her capsule once again. She steps out with a gold colored two piece dress with embroidery on the top. "This is perfect! I'm going with this one."

"Finally!" Leo shouts happily, and throws the dresses on the couch. "Luckily, I'm not going to make an effort to go to this prom."

"Why not?"

Leo shrugs. "When I first got to high school, my ideal prom night was for me to go to a fancy place, dance the night away with my date, and enjoy the after prom party. Now, ever since Janelle dumped me last year, it's well past prom season, and this isn't a fancy place, I rather not waste my time...or a suit."

"Aw," Bree frowns a little, remembering the depressive episode Leo went through when the girl dumped her last year. She didn't think she could hate someone as much as she hated Janelle for breaking her brother's heart, but boy did she hate the girl. It was to the point where Douglas _physically stops her in commando app_ _mode_ (that he didn't remove) from almost attempting manslaughter on the girl. "You could've went with me."

"That doesn't look right," Leo frowns even deeper. "Plus, Bob might beat me up if I asked you. And...I need all the time I can get to work on my valedictory address."

"Uh, I actually wanted to talk to you about that," the nineteen year old mentor says, and sits on the couch. He then gives a look towards his sister, and she quickly notes the signal. She leaves the room, leaving her brothers in the room.

"About what?"

He sighs, and looks at Leo deeply. "I just want to say...if anyone deserved to do this, I'm glad it's you. You've really grown as a person and as a student."

"I feel like there's something more to this," Leo says, and raises an eyebrow in a very familiar fashion that reminds Chase of an old friend. "Speak now or forever hold your peace because I doubt I will be able to visit much when I'm in college."

"Ok, I will admit that I was a little mad because I never got the chance to be valedictorian, and then I was jealous of you for taking that. But, I really started thinking about it. You're the only person here who doesn't judge me everyday on my height, or my intellect, or anything else for that matter. You asked me to join you in building a robot, you talked me out of the Triton app, and you've backed me up on multiple occasions. I guess I owe you a lot for looking out for me, even though you didn't have to."

"Of course I had to," he says, and puts a shoulder in his stepbrother's shoulder. "You're my brother, and as much as you annoy me, I get it. But, just because everyone else does it, it doesn't mean you have to sell yourself short. You don't have to be at the top all of the time. We already respect you. Maybe not in the way you want, but we do."

"Thanks," the supergenius grins at his younger brother. "And you're not completely useless either."

"Of course I'm not! I can control all the elements. You might as well call me Korra," Leo boasts, with an amused grin. "But, thanks for admitting that to me. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome," he says back.

"Wait, I thought you had a date for the prom...Mr. FrizzyBizzy21?" Leo chuckles, trying to change the subject. The blush on his brother's face makes him laugh even harder.

"Shut up! She said she didn't wanna go," Chase replies, with a bit of heartbreak but he doesn't let it show. "It doesn't matter. It will probably be boring or something. Everyone knows our secret, there's no cyber masks laying around, and none of Bree's boyfriends are here."

"Yeah, it's no fun when Perry isn't going to separate us from being too close or some paranormal thing chasing us to prank Trent back. But...like I said, I'm not going so you have fun. Watch your sister dance with some student, which is probably going to be Bob, and try not to humiliate yourself too much."

"Thanks for the tip," he deadpans, which sends Leo in another fit of laughter.

* * *

 

"Thanks for agreeing to go to the prom with me," Bob says, with a slightly uncomfortable Bree on his left side. "I know you don't like me in that way, but it means a lot."

"If that means that I have a date because all of my old friends hate me and Leo decided not to go, then I'm glad it's you," she forces out with a grimace. The training area is full of decorations, a buffet (with actual human food, not the questionable bars that they are forced to eat everyday), and an area where Adam is handling the music. Despite it smelling like sweat, it actually does clean up nicely, and so does Bob. The fourteen year old muscle lets go of his date after silence overtakes them, and goes over to the buffet with several plates in his hand.

"Where's your date!" Adam laughs at his little sister, who glares at him and points over to Bob. He is currently piling a plate full of mini corn dogs, cheese, and something else. "Seriously? Bob's your date?"

"Technically no, he isn't. He escorted me inside the room," Bree explains, with a faint blush on her cheeks. "He told everyone that I was his date but of course I couldn't humiliate him so I agreed. Though, I think I liked it better when he had a crush on Caitlyn."

"Too bad she isn't here because she hates you," Adam snorts, but to be honest they are glad the bipolar girl hates them enough to stay off the island. Adam notices that the plate of mini corn dogs is completely barren, and looks completely outraged. "Wait a minute...hey Bob! Sharing is caring!" He leaves Bree alone to fend for herself while chasing his favorite student for taking all of the finger food. She rolls her eyes and leans against the wall while the other students idly chat on the dance floor.

 _This_ is boring. She was expecting something to go wrong. Her first dance had her running away from her date and then eventually scaring him off, but that was okay because Leo distracted her with his sick dance moves. The second dance was an amalgamation of a space theme and a southwestern cowboy theme during the time she was dating Owen, and that ordeal made her break up with the cynical artist. The third dance, which was actually kind of fun, included her with a malfunctioning cyber mask pretending to be Perry from an old prank, and her brother Chase pretending to be her for the night so that Josh can like her. That ended with Chase enjoying the slow dance they did earlier (even though he tried not to show it ), Perry admitting that she has a twin sister (and then send Bree on a fake date using another cyber mask), and then Josh actually admitting that he has a man crush on Chase.

Now, Bree kind of wanted something to go wrong so that she can have some fun, since she is used to everything going wrong during a school event (seriously, at _this_ point, if either sibling is at any school event, something _will_ go wrong. That also includes Leo because...well, he's _Leo_ ).

Suddenly the song gets slower and Adam announces the next song. "This song is for all of the ones who have a date...and if you don't, well, your loss."

Bree glares at her brother while most of the students grab a partner and start slow dancing. Seriously? "Why would he do this?"

"Shall we dance?" Bob appears in front of the twenty year old, and grabs her hand almost romantically. "You don't have to say yes, but I was kind of hoping to—"

"Yes," she replies, and allows Bob to take her to the makeshift dance floor. The lights start to dim and some multicolored sky lights strobe slowly around the room, while Bob successfully guides and twirls the taller girl around. When he dips her, she looks merely impressed for someone who barely knows of anything outside the island. "Woah, when did you learn how to dance?"

"The dance part is easy. The spinning part..." He twirls her again and then clasps his free hand in hers. "Spin taught me that."

"Of course he did."

The super genius rolls his eyes after feeling his older brother slap him on the arm. "Bree and Bob sitting in a tree!"

"Are you even aware of the age difference? She's just doing this because she feels sorry for the guy," Chase states, with another eye roll.

"What about your date, or did your online boyfriend bail on you?" He teases, as per usual.

"Yes, _she_ did, but for a good reason," the super genius replies, with an annoyed sigh. "She didn't want to waste precious time going to a prom, and further bashed it by saying it's so high school."

"But you're here—"

"Not the point!" He yells.

* * *

 

Leo stares at the deep blue colored graduation gown with a tassel indicating his valedictory status. While the idea of him being a mentor didn't exactly work, at least he can graduate and finally move on to become whatever he wants to be. High school wasn't the greatest time of his life, especially with a sadistic principal, an even more sadistic bully (who became a teacher) a sociopath who tried to kill him on multiple occasions, three broken limbs that became bionic (mostly on his father's fault; he's still trying to decide if he should blame Douglas or Perry for the bionic arm), and only having three friends throughout the whole ride. Even though he left to go to school here, he couldn't deny that the times in his old school weren't entirely bad.

This was it. After four years in school, he finally feels like making his own decisions. Tomorrow, he will make his speech and be sent off to the mainland to start packing his real clothes for college. When that happens, he won't have time to go on missions because of college, and he won't have time to visit the island. He would just go to school and back home so that he can sleep in his capsule. (After the third incident that caused his other leg to become bionic, his stepfather and Douglas thought it would make much more sense to make an actual capsule. Douglas just formatted an actual chip after Leo requested for a bionic chip. That is why he has the elemental manipulation ability, which no one else has on the island.)

"'Sup Dooley?" He turns around to see his former principal waltzing inside the mentor headquarters.

"How did you get in here? We installed a password to make sure you and your niece don't _ever_ come in here!" Leo spazzes out, a little agitated that Perry got inside the dorms easily. The password was mostly on Leo's part when his e-Phone went missing after Kerry's stealing spree, but everyone agreed. However, Perry knows the password and gets inside the dorms often. People were just dumb enough to not check the feeds daily.

"Um, hello? I'm a security guard _and_ a mentor? Obviously I would have access to all keys and passwords to any and all rooms," Perry states matter of factly, like it's the obvious. "What are you doing in here? Most of the students are having fun at the prom."

"Avoiding it," he sighs, and looks at his gown again. "I don't even have a date. Janelle dumped me last year, remember?"

"Who didn't? You cried like a baby the whole time!" Perry fake coos, and then laughs at the memory.

Leo narrows his eyes, even though he should be used to his former principal laughing at his pain. She's still sadistic, but it's toned down a notch, especially during the secret-keeping she had to do for a while. "Thanks for laughing at my pain!" He fake sniffles, to humor the older woman.

Instead, Perry rolls her eyes and takes a seat across from the eighteen year old. "So what? It's her loss anyway."

"You think so?"

"No," Perry lies smoothly, but Leo knows she means yes. "You know...I never thought I would say this, but I'm proud of you," the former principal says after a small silence. Leo widens his eyes and stares at Perry, surprised to hear those words come out of her mouth. "What? Seriously! You saved a lot of lives, even before you became bionic. And even though you hate me and the feeling is all but mutual, I think we have a general understanding of each other."

"If a general understanding you mean by us disliking each other, then you're _totally_ right," he says sarcastically.

"Shut up, I'm trying to be sentimental here!" Perry barks at her former student, and isn't surprised when he laughs. He's completely immune to her loud voice. "Even though I spent most of our cherished time making you feel smaller than you actually were, I think I'm actually going to miss you, Leo."

"D-Did you just say my first name? Have you been sniffing bath salts _again_?"

"No! Bath salts don't do _anything_ to me anymore," the older woman snarls, but then she smiles genuinely. "I hate all of my old students, but I hate you and the robots the least. I told you this when I came on the island for the first time."

"First off, we're not robots, and second off, you said you missed terrorizing us," Leo chuckles.

"Same difference!" Perry barks again. "Anyway, I'm gonna go make sure everyone's having a horrible time at this makeshift prom and eat all the food. Leave it to the fast one to organize a prom last minute!"

"You're a horrible human being," Leo jokes, which causes the other woman to narrow her eyes. She gets up and slaps her former student on the shoulder before exiting the room. He chuckles, and actually doesn't seem disgusted when he admits to himself that he's going to miss her, a lot.

* * *

 

"Students, mentors, former students, and family members. It is with great honor that I, Leo Dooley, will address you on our first ever commencement. Even though this was built two years ago and I left my high school to come here and further my studies, I think it is pretty impressive that I am able to do this. While these past few years were some of the most action packed years I've had in my whole life, they were also very developing to the person I am today. When my stepfather first opened this school, it was to help us all train to become the bionic heroes that we will eventually become when we finally leave this island. Yeah, at first I almost sinked the whole island because one person moved up several colors in one day just for being a ballerina, but we've learned from our mistakes. Not even six months in the island, you guys lost faith in us and joined a rebellion caused by a very smart student that misunderstood our purpose. However, you guys stayed put and didn't pulverize us to the ground, which is also a good thing.

"When we found you guys after defeating Krane, we were concerned and we did not know whether to turn you into the authorities or to keep you from harm's way. Even though you were soldiers, you had a clean slate. We were concerned but also thrilled to make sure you have a normal life. Since all of you already have impressive bionics, we couldn't let that go to waste. You guys have better bionics than my siblings, actually, even though the other commando app was pretty creepy.

"Who would have thought that this started when I went into the basement of my new house? Yeah, this started when I met my siblings in a basement. They were my friends instantly, and people I wanted to keep forever and ever. I am glad I went down there by accident because if I didn't, this wouldn't have happened. We wouldn't be here, on this island. I probably wouldn't even survive high school. We went through a lot before we were exposed. We had a sociopathic android who was spying on us the whole time, even though we still thought Perry was the biggest threat to us. What was even worse was the madman who created all of you...he made Marcus seem likeable, and I thought that was near impossible! However, I digress. It was really interesting. Although I bored you with my stories on how I saved a running train or how we saved an asteroid from destroying a space hotel, they were all true, albeit exaggerated.

"As we end our commencement, we are leaving as different people than we were a year ago. When people ask us why we decided to build a school instead of allowing the government to take you away, I always answer them, because you aren't a threat. You once saved my life because I tried to save my father's life. You are all harmless, and controlled by someone who didn't care about you, but when we took you on, we showed you that we cared. Now, that you're leaving and being sent to either a family that will help you amalgamate into the human world or living on your own, you will be able to see the world differently. You are no longer lab rats. You are human beings, with some superhuman abilities but nevertheless, you're still humans. It's time for the rest of the world to see that."

Leo exhales a breath that seems longer than usual and grins when he sees the whole training area (that's conversed into a graduation hall) clapping loudly. He steps down from the podium and sits next to his brother, and feels a clap on his shoulder.

"Ok, before we announce the end of the ceremony, we will also allow all of our green students to move up a color," Mr. Davenport announces, and most of the green students line up to receive their red shirts. "Next year, it will be your chance to graduate and move on."

"And most of you graduating today can come to Mission Creek High!" Perry proclaims, even though she isn't a principal anymore. "We have quality teachers and—"

"Stop _lying_ to them!" Bree interjects.

"Watch it fast one," she points a chubby finger at her former student, and sits back down.

"If there are no more interruptions, then I present to you, the graduations class of 2016!" With that, all of the graduating Reds throw their caps in the air, and Adam destroys some of them with his heat vision.

"What? I thought it was a game of 'destroy the cap'!"

His younger siblings roll their eyes, and get up from their chairs. "Well, that's that," Leo sighs. He removes his cap and stole around his neck.

"Ooh, can I try it on?" Chase eagerly implores, pointing at the valedictorian stole.

"Uh sure, whatever," Leo gives his brother the slightly sweaty piece of satin, and Chase eagerly puts it on. It's small on him but nonetheless, if it makes the super genius happy... "But you can't keep it."

No one gets a chance to reply because Tasha rushes over and hugs her son so close that he can't even breathe. "My baby finally graduated school! I'm so happy! Imagine how happy I'm gonna be when you graduate _college_!"

"Ok mom...seriously..." Leo tries to speak, but it is muffled. He sees his siblings laugh at him and instead of prying him off, they join Tasha in a group hug, which further cuts Leo's air supply. "Guys! Seriously?"

"We're gonna miss you on the island!" Adam cries.

"Same here now would you let me go!" Slowly, everyone backs away from the group hug and Tasha releases her son from her death grip. Leo inhales very sharply from the lack of oxygen. Seriously, despite having super strength with his bionic limbs, he still cannot escape his mother's death grip. " _Sheesh_! When I say I can't breathe, I mean it!"

After that, a small silence takes over. "Uh...can we have a few minutes with Leo?" Bree asks her stepmother, who wordlessly agrees after seeing the girl's heartbroken face.

"I'll be waiting in the hydro-loop," Tasha announces and leaves Leo with his siblings.

After catching his breath, Leo stands up straight and looks at his siblings, who already have tears staining their faces. Well, most notably Adam but he knows the man child is a softie at heart "So, uh, this is it." His eyes quickly get wet with tears and a lump forms in his throat, but he couldn't do this here. Not now. He couldn't hold back his tears, but he can at least stop himself from breaking down completely.

"Thank you for saving our butts," Adam says first, which makes Leo smile tearfully. He knows what that meant. "No seriously, thank you for saving our butts. If it weren't for you, we probably wouldn't be here."

"Yeah, and thank you for introducing us to the real world, even if the experience was kind of crappy," Bree continues. "It made us realize that the basement was much better...in some way." She slaps her younger brother after a minute of silence, after realizing he hasn't said anything.

"Ok ok, I was kidding! Thanks for believing in us - all of us. You also taught us a lot, and we appreciate that." Chase removes the stole from around his neck, and puts it on his stepbrother's shoulders. "I don't deserve it anyway."

Leo lets out a sob, and casts his head down. "I'm gonna miss you guys _so much_."

No words are exchanged when they gather for another emotional group hug. "Group hug!" Perry shouts, and runs over to hug her former students. Even though it seemed weird, no one really complained. In fact, they snake their arms around the shorter woman. "Stop crying you bionic freaks! Jeez!"

"You know what, I think I'm gonna miss you the least," Leo chuckles, after letting go of his siblings.

"Oh please, I'll give it a week. You're gonna miss me most of all," Perry scoffs, but gives Leo a personal hug of her own. To her shock, the eighteen year old hugs back. They let go simultaneously, and Leo steps off the makeshift stage. He looks back at his siblings and former principal, and then turns around to leave the training area.

Exhaling, he looks around the main area one last time. "Wait!" Leo hears a voice shouting at him, and he turns around to see his frenemy Spin standing there with a face wet with tears. Suddenly the fourteen year old runs over and hugs Leo tightly. Seriously, everyone seems to be in the hugging mood. "I'm gonna miss you."

"Aw, I'm gonna miss you too _ballerina_ ," Leo jokes, but it causes Spin to push him away and glare playfully at Leo. "Oh come on, you know I had to make that joke one last time."

"And now I rescind my statement," Spin jokes back, but waves at the one person he likes and hates at the same time before leaving the main area.

Leo chuckles, and turns around to go inside the hydro loop. This time, nothing stops him from leaving the island.


End file.
